Height vs wave period

[MrWesson]

What is your take on a good atlantic sea?

Today we had 4ft at 10sec and it looked nice on the webcams and I noticed alot of small boats.

Would you feel comfortable in 3-5ft seas at 10sec in a 19-6?

[fitz73222]

Not bad for a 12 degree bottom. The old Aquasports could deal with 10 seconds because you could get on top at 20 mph, come over the top turn to starboard and come down the backside and slide down then come back up and repeat to port and try to balance the course direction. Did it many times heading to the gulf out of Ponce Inlet. These boats could handle big seas because of their low planing speed but sucked in a short chop, you got wet and beat to death. To me, it was all about being able to plane really slow and ride over and around almost like tacking in a sailboat and you could getter done without breaking the boat in half. You just had to pick your days like any other boat.

[pete]

3-5 and 19-6 add up to a rough,slow ride,2-4 would be my max seas in that boat,but in my younger,dumber days I would prolly do it  

[gran398]

What is your take on a good atlantic sea?

Today we had 4ft at 10sec and it looked nice on the webcams and I noticed alot of small boats.

Would you feel comfortable in 3-5ft seas at 10sec in a 19-6?

Any height under six feet at a ten second interval in a calm sea is doable regardless of what you're in, with a prudent captain.

A ten second interval is a groundswell. If you've got her riding sweet at an easy cruise... its a non-event in any of our boats. Like riding low hills in a car.

Add  a twelve mph steady wind, especially opposed to the swell....different story. An even greater wind...you don't want to be out there.

Getting back to a decent to big groundswell in the Atlantic. This is a product of constant wind direction over the course of  several days. Today's example is the hard northeaster we are still experiencing in coastal NC, but may have just abated your way. No other wind direction on the Atlantic coast produces a groundswell like a persistent northeast wind. The fetch (length of blow)  is unencumbered over thousands of miles. So after the heavy wind event, you're left as per your forecast with a big latent groundswell...but little wind. So go for it, go offshore...the heavy stuff is over and waning, the fish haven't been able to see clearly for days and are hungry and biting.

Take the NWS forecast with a grain of salt....although in the last few years their forecast ability has improved tremendously.  For a true local wind velocity and direction...look at the TOPS of the trees in your driveway before you go out. Even if you have to look at the treetops before dawn...look at them. Even with a spotlight.  You can't judge true windspeed on the water otherwise.

If the treetops are shaking...call off an offshore trip.

Normal spring/summer weather pattern on the Atlantic side... is a frontal passage from the west with high pressure behind. The forecast will read:  West winds at 20...going NW at 20, then going N at 20 to 15, then NE at 15 diminishing to 10, then E- SE at 10 ...then light SE at 10 knots or less...then light S at 5 or less.  and then...if we're really lucky...."light and variable" . This always occurs before it goes hard Southwest and  blows its ass off before the next front. Sometimes...it just stays Southwest and honks all summer at 15 to 25

The best mornings to choose on a frontal passage are E going SE or SE going S. The dome of high pressure is directly above, two good days of fishing.

[Georgie]

Mr. W-

Apparently I'm your neighbor here in Ft. Liquordale and I actually DID go out yestderday and rode those 10 second swells easily.  Took one wave badly (i.e got the admiral wet) all day.     Offshore breeze made fishing out to about 300' depth manageable, but further out the 15mph west wind was whipping it up and you could actually SEE the mountainous seas on the eastern horizon.  10 second dominant period in a smaller center console like your 196 or my 18 wellcraft is a piece of cake and is definitely just a ground swell that the smaller boats barely notice (except when the horizon disappears when sitting in a trough   ).  When cruising on a slow plane the boat just slides up, over, and back down each wave.  In general, I would agree that a 6 ft sea with 10 second period is perfectly manageable, but the key is knowing what the secondary chop is doing on top of the dominant groundswell.  Running my 18 Wellcraft (which is a very beamy and stable CC) I don't even really consider offshore trips if I know the chop will be 2-4 which unfortunately is probably the most common sea condition here.  Your 196 will handle seas very similarly to my 18 so that's pretty much where I tend to call off a trip.  Once the seas are intermittently reaching 4' and stacked tight together it's just too darn easy to miss that one brutal wave interval and get hurt or break things on the boat.  The webcams you mentioned are my favorite tool for determining ocean conditions though.  Very helpful.  Once you see what the cams show and compare to what the NOAA buoys and forecasts say, you can reliable know what is actually happening.  Try http://www.a1aweather.com/all-in-one.php next time. It's a one-stop-shop for all the info you need when trying to make up your mind.

[John Jones]

If the treetops are shaking...call off an offshore trip.

That is indicator No. 1

No. 2 is look at the far horizon.  If you see elephants marching, then turn around and go home.

In the eastern Gulf of Mexico one can only fantasize about a 10 second period.

[MrWesson]

Mr. W-

Apparently I'm your neighbor here in Ft. Liquordale and I actually DID go out yestderday and rode those 10 second swells easily.  Took one wave badly (i.e got the admiral wet) all day.     Offshore breeze made fishing out to about 300' depth manageable, but further out the 15mph west wind was whipping it up and you could actually SEE the mountainous seas on the eastern horizon.  10 second dominant period in a smaller center console like your 196 or my 18 wellcraft is a piece of cake and is definitely just a ground swell that the smaller boats barely notice (except when the horizon disappears when sitting in a trough   ).  When cruising on a slow plane the boat just slides up, over, and back down each wave.  In general, I would agree that a 6 ft sea with 10 second period is perfectly manageable, but the key is knowing what the secondary chop is doing on top of the dominant groundswell.  Running my 18 Wellcraft (which is a very beamy and stable CC) I don't even really consider offshore trips if I know the chop will be 2-4 which unfortunately is probably the most common sea condition here.  Your 196 will handle seas very similarly to my 18 so that's pretty much where I tend to call off a trip.  Once the seas are intermittently reaching 4' and stacked tight together it's just too darn easy to miss that one brutal wave interval and get hurt or break things on the boat.  The webcams you mentioned are my favorite tool for determining ocean conditions though.  Very helpful.  Once you see what the cams show and compare to what the NOAA buoys and forecasts say, you can reliable know what is actually happening.  Try http://www.a1aweather.com/all-in-one.php next time. It's a one-stop-shop for all the info you need when trying to make up your mind.

Thanks for all the info.

I did go out and it was very nice out there with gentle rollers inshore and big rollers offshore. I ran to a nova wreck in the hopes of fishing then quickly realized it wasn't comfortable and I wasn't really equiped for it.

Depth was 200-300ft,first time seeing that deep blue water was amazing, rollers were probably 6ft at 10 sec maybe slightly bigger with a 2ft chop on top. Was never unsafe just compared to closer to the beach it was bumpy.